The Case of the Moderate Hotels Part 2: Walt Disney World

[00:00:17] Welcome to The Supreme Resort, Land v. World, a podcast about Disneyland and Walt Disney World and which is the Supreme Resort.

[00:00:28] Each episode we will discuss and explore each resort ride by ride, land by land, park by park to determine which is better.

[00:00:36] I'm your host Jimmy and thank you for joining me on this quest to help the greater good of humanity answer this long elusive question, which is better, Disneyland or Walt Disney World?

[00:00:46] Joining me as always, he's been playing a character for years ladies and gentlemen, we now have the real Dan.

[00:00:52] I'm free, I'm here, God bless our glorious country, God bless our wonderful future and our God King president's third term, that's right, his third term.

[00:01:04] It's been done before Dan, there's precedence.

[00:01:07] And it's gonna happen again.

[00:01:09] We also have, who's still in character, Eric.

[00:01:14] Yes, I am a moderate.

[00:01:18] Like the resorts we're going to cover.

[00:01:21] Oh, good.

[00:01:22] Oh, I like that.

[00:01:23] Okay.

[00:01:23] I didn't think of that one.

[00:01:24] Go for it.

[00:01:25] Uh, no, I'm sorry.

[00:01:26] I didn't mean Adam the woo.

[00:01:27] I meant Eric.

[00:01:29] Is Eric here?

[00:01:30] Oh, wait.

[00:01:31] Um, hang on, hang on.

[00:01:33] Put down your piping up beverage.

[00:01:34] There you go.

[00:01:36] Hey, it's me, Eric.

[00:01:37] Oh, hey, there he is.

[00:01:38] Hey, I'm here.

[00:01:40] Hey, that was the character's been playing.

[00:01:42] He's been playing Adam the woo for the last four years.

[00:01:45] Too long.

[00:01:47] Okay.

[00:01:48] Oh, that beard.

[00:01:49] Oh, oh.

[00:01:50] Listeners, thank you very much for joining us again.

[00:01:54] Uh, real Dan, fake Eric.

[00:01:56] It's good to see both.

[00:01:58] Um, we are continuing our epic saga of the hotels.

[00:02:02] We're in the moderate era.

[00:02:05] Today, we're going to cover the Disney world, the Disney world resort.

[00:02:10] Uh, we're in the Weimar Republic of the Disney.

[00:02:14] That's right.

[00:02:14] Oh, yeah.

[00:02:15] Uh, we only have four hotels to cover today.

[00:02:17] Sorry.

[00:02:18] I'm out of character again.

[00:02:19] Sorry.

[00:02:19] Yes.

[00:02:20] Go ahead.

[00:02:20] Get back, back in and go.

[00:02:22] Yeah.

[00:02:23] Um, so we only have four resorts to cover today, but they are sprawling resorts with a lot of history and fun facts.

[00:02:29] So it will be buckle in.

[00:02:31] Uh, before we do that, uh, Dan just got back from a trip.

[00:02:36] Just now.

[00:02:36] Disneyland literally walked in the door.

[00:02:38] I have my arms tired.

[00:02:40] That's a typical Dan joke.

[00:02:43] Yeah.

[00:02:43] That's real Dan.

[00:02:43] Yeah.

[00:02:45] That's right.

[00:02:45] Anyway.

[00:02:46] So, uh, Dan, you had some things you shared with us while you were there.

[00:02:50] So we're going to, we're going to call this Dan's frosted tips and trip report.

[00:02:55] Yes.

[00:02:58] There it is.

[00:02:59] It's also the mail.

[00:02:59] Welcome to the mailbag of my trip.

[00:03:03] Uh, so I went to Disneyland.

[00:03:06] It's located in lovely Anaheim, California on the corner of Harbor and Catella also on the corner of Harbor and ball also.

[00:03:13] Okay.

[00:03:14] Nevermind.

[00:03:14] Uh, so I went and it was fun.

[00:03:17] Uh, and I saw a fresh bag David and I said, hi, and I lingered awkwardly while he was talking to other streamers.

[00:03:23] The reason he was there was because they just reopened the new queue for the haunted mansion.

[00:03:32] And did you talk to David?

[00:03:34] Uh, I talked at him and he looked at me like, why are you trying to invade this conversation?

[00:03:40] And I was like, I'm picking up on your social cues and I'm walking away.

[00:03:45] Thank you.

[00:03:46] That was my experience.

[00:03:47] Yes.

[00:03:48] Yeah.

[00:03:50] Uh, no, I, I, it was one of those things where I recognized at the, in the moment where I was like, I am doing the thing.

[00:03:56] I'm going to walk away now.

[00:03:58] Um, uh, no, it's nice.

[00:04:01] It's not, um, I can tell you that the videos don't make it look as good as it is.

[00:04:07] The mausoleum looks way too big, but in person, it looks fine.

[00:04:11] Um, it's understated.

[00:04:13] It's nice.

[00:04:14] It is as immersive as it can be without it being over the top and gaudy like the Walt Disney World version.

[00:04:21] And I think that it, uh, if anything, the music is a touch to on the nose in terms of it being, uh, the music from the ride.

[00:04:32] But, you know, I'm sure people will think I'm wrong about that.

[00:04:36] So I haven't watched anything just avoiding spoilers.

[00:04:39] Is it, is it like slow?

[00:04:43] That's exactly what I was going to ask.

[00:04:46] It's that, but like waltzy and almost playful in a way.

[00:04:53] It's too loud.

[00:04:54] It's, it, it is a hair too loud, but it's also just too obviously connected to the actual note patterns of Grim Grinning Ghosts.

[00:05:03] Huh.

[00:05:04] So do you remember, Dan, I'm sorry to cut you off.

[00:05:07] Do you remember, um, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Florida?

[00:05:13] Do you remember the queue?

[00:05:14] I remember that's, that was one of my favorite things.

[00:05:17] Okay.

[00:05:18] The music.

[00:05:19] So rundown, the music is playing that sounds like it would be playing in the 1920s in a, you know, in a fancy hotel in the, you know, in the courtyard.

[00:05:26] Well, the thing that they, that they nailed perfectly there that I don't think would work here as much because the theme is they, what they did technically is they had the music playing and they, they put a reverb filter on it, but they removed all of the, the dry signal.

[00:05:46] And so all you had was reverb and it was this very haunting distant sort of thing because that's what that would do.

[00:05:55] Yeah.

[00:05:56] Why wouldn't it be that way at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion?

[00:05:59] Um, it's less.

[00:06:01] It's still alive.

[00:06:02] Kind of.

[00:06:03] It's not a, it's not a murder scene.

[00:06:05] Yeah.

[00:06:06] Yeah.

[00:06:06] And just in terms of fitting in with the land, I think for me, what I would have liked is just dial down the, the direct one-to-one note of it by like 20, 15%.

[00:06:23] Have it be like evocative, maybe same chord structure, maybe like more sparse instrumentals here and there.

[00:06:31] Like I get what they're doing.

[00:06:33] And instead of like just going fully ambient with it, they went, Hey, we need to make sure people understand that this is the music.

[00:06:40] Does it feel lazy to you?

[00:06:46] Maybe.

[00:06:47] I think my feeling, don't get me wrong.

[00:06:51] Overall, I liked the whole thing.

[00:06:52] And this is just like a small note.

[00:06:54] Um, I think it's more like someone said, Hey, let's have the music playing.

[00:07:00] And they didn't put too much thought into what that could be.

[00:07:05] And they went ahead with just, okay, well, here's this.

[00:07:08] Okay.

[00:07:09] What, what's the, so my, my thought, thank you, Jimmy, for this topic.

[00:07:14] Cause it's like, I, I'm not going to be able to be there for a while, but what's it like transitioning from Tiana's place haunted mansion by you adventure.

[00:07:29] Uh, funny.

[00:07:31] You mentioned that.

[00:07:31] Uh, and again, before I move on to that, I just want to make it clear to the listener or whoever that all of that, that I just said, you need to take, keep in mind like who I am and what my taste is.

[00:07:43] I'm sure.

[00:07:44] No, real you or.

[00:07:46] Uh, no, me in character.

[00:07:48] Real me thinks it's not on the nose enough.

[00:07:51] They should have a banjo band playing the music.

[00:07:53] Okay.

[00:07:53] Gotcha.

[00:08:01] Um, uh, transition wise is interesting because they have a new tool shed.

[00:08:19] Like literally.

[00:08:20] Well, it looks like a barn.

[00:08:24] They have, so they built this, this store.

[00:08:29] It's supposed to be man, Leota's, whatever it's, you know, that's like the momentum or anything.

[00:08:34] Right.

[00:08:35] Um, you, I don't know if you remember when you saw it in the concept art where it was like, that looks like it might be too big.

[00:08:42] It is.

[00:08:44] Okay.

[00:08:45] We gotta sell a lot of stuff, Dan.

[00:08:47] I know.

[00:08:47] So having said that, I, I, it is, I think too big compared to the size of the mansion.

[00:08:53] It's itself.

[00:08:55] However, if it's that or kiosk, I'll take that.

[00:08:59] Okay.

[00:08:59] It works well conceptually, visually.

[00:09:03] I mean, aside from what it kind of ruins with, um, forced perspective, it does.

[00:09:09] I see what they're trying to do in terms of like it being a, uh, turning point from Bayou country and New Orleans square and back and forth.

[00:09:21] Like it does work aesthetically in that way.

[00:09:24] So let me ask you this.

[00:09:26] Yes.

[00:09:26] Um, so, so few spoilers.

[00:09:29] I'm going to ask a dumb question.

[00:09:30] Okay.

[00:09:30] When I'm walking out of the haunted mansion, which by the way, after you go up the going up to, it's kind of like coming out of the grave and you go out of the tomb.

[00:09:40] I don't know.

[00:09:41] That is exactly.

[00:09:42] Everyone agrees on that point.

[00:09:43] Yes.

[00:09:43] Okay.

[00:09:44] I don't know why people hammer on that one thing, which was, I think my strongest and most well thought out point.

[00:09:51] Um, so that, no, no, no, that was, that was in character, Dan.

[00:09:57] I want to know how real Dan feels about it.

[00:10:00] Uh, no, real Dan thinks it's a, that you should just, it just be a roller coaster.

[00:10:05] It's just so much better that there are cartoon characters on, on busts and you can point at something and it might play music.

[00:10:12] It's a park for kids after all.

[00:10:13] That's true.

[00:10:15] Fair enough.

[00:10:15] Okay.

[00:10:16] So I'm coming out of said tomb.

[00:10:18] Yes.

[00:10:18] Uh, the river's in front of me.

[00:10:21] Where is this store?

[00:10:22] Also in front of you, but to the directly.

[00:10:25] Uh, it's kind of conveniently nudging towards you.

[00:10:31] It's, it's, it's like the.

[00:10:33] Is it on my left or my right or straight ahead?

[00:10:35] Uh, it's on your left.

[00:10:38] Think of it as the sort of vaguely unwelcome person that I was being in the conversation that I was trying to invade with Fresh Baked David.

[00:10:49] Like the thing where it's like, I see what you're doing and I wish you wouldn't, but you're not really in the way.

[00:10:58] Okay.

[00:10:58] Gotcha.

[00:11:01] By the way, Tiana's body, bio adventure wrote it three times.

[00:11:04] Love it more every time.

[00:11:06] Oh, good.

[00:11:07] First time.

[00:11:08] I think the, the original response that you sent was like, uh, hopefully Disney world figures out what to do.

[00:11:14] Cause there's going to be a lot of dead space.

[00:11:16] Yeah.

[00:11:17] I can see how in Disney world.

[00:11:19] In fact, I watched a ride through of the Disney world version after.

[00:11:22] And I was like, yeah, now I can definitely see why people think there's a lot of dead space.

[00:11:28] But in this one, the dead space is like, it's, it's used for it.

[00:11:35] I don't want to even say it's dead space.

[00:11:37] There is, there are points where there was no animatronics, but there's like projections happening and they do come back later.

[00:11:43] Like it's, it's part of the story.

[00:11:45] It's tied up.

[00:11:45] Okay.

[00:11:45] But if this thing was any longer, it would, I would, I definitely would feel how it drags.

[00:11:53] Having said that this thing is tight.

[00:11:56] Like, like even the third time I wrote it, it was, it was like this, everything fits, everything works.

[00:12:03] Yes.

[00:12:03] The story, the premise is stupid.

[00:12:05] I'm going to give that to you.

[00:12:07] Like, yeah, it's dumb.

[00:12:08] We're going to go find, we're gonna go find friends.

[00:12:10] But the song, the, the, the, the Splash Mountain storyline wasn't any more coherent.

[00:12:18] Now, here's the, here's my problem.

[00:12:20] It sounds like you're channeling the character, Dan.

[00:12:23] I, I'm kind of curious what real Dan feels about this.

[00:12:26] I do.

[00:12:26] I sell, here's the thing.

[00:12:28] I don't want to get canceled.

[00:12:32] All right.

[00:12:33] Well, legit question.

[00:12:35] I watched a side by side of Tiana's and Splash Mountain, right?

[00:12:40] Yeah.

[00:12:41] You know, like for like.

[00:12:42] Oh, wow.

[00:12:42] Okay.

[00:12:44] Because of the video quality, whatever, I have no idea what's going on.

[00:12:47] Why am I going up the hill and what am I going into?

[00:12:50] It's, is it scary?

[00:12:53] Um, well, it's.

[00:12:56] Which Dan are you asking?

[00:12:57] Real Dan.

[00:12:58] Real Dan.

[00:12:59] All of the Dan's.

[00:13:00] Real Dan finds it terrifying.

[00:13:06] We're going to have to figure out a, a shortcut for what I actually mean.

[00:13:10] What answer I actually want.

[00:13:13] Real Dan was holding onto my, I was holding my pockets the whole time.

[00:13:17] I was like, Oh my God.

[00:13:20] No, but like the, the conceit in the original is like, Oh, you're gonna, you're, you're going to do the thing.

[00:13:26] Don't throw me in the prior patch.

[00:13:28] What's the point?

[00:13:30] Okay.

[00:13:30] Uh, skip ahead a few seconds.

[00:13:32] If you want to avoid spoilers.

[00:13:34] Um, the, so, and the first time I wrote it, it wasn't clear at all, but second time, like, I get it.

[00:13:41] This is what's going on.

[00:13:42] So the.

[00:13:43] Skip ahead some more.

[00:13:44] We're not there yet.

[00:13:44] Okay.

[00:13:45] So the, the, there's, there ain't nothing in here, but bees drop the, that like pours a bucket of water over the side at the end.

[00:13:52] That, that part of the ride.

[00:13:54] Okay.

[00:13:55] Yeah.

[00:13:56] Yeah.

[00:13:56] The little roller coaster part in the middle.

[00:13:58] Right.

[00:13:58] So that is.

[00:14:00] Now are you being shrunk down at that point?

[00:14:01] Yeah.

[00:14:02] Yeah.

[00:14:02] That's mama shrinking you down.

[00:14:04] Okay.

[00:14:04] Cause you're looking for like, they found the key components of the band again, stupid premise.

[00:14:11] Yeah.

[00:14:11] But she's like, Hey, we can find, we could find smaller instrumentalists to play.

[00:14:17] Okay.

[00:14:17] And then that, that, then she shrinks you and that effect is actually as cool as you could expect it to be.

[00:14:23] By the way, that translated in the video.

[00:14:25] Okay.

[00:14:25] Which is surprising.

[00:14:26] Yeah.

[00:14:26] Oh, wow.

[00:14:27] Okay.

[00:14:28] The, and then the lift hill at the end is her making you bigger again so that you can make a big splash at the party.

[00:14:38] Oh, fun.

[00:14:39] That is.

[00:14:39] And the music in that part is like, it's, it's cool.

[00:14:42] It's, it's like, it's all gospel-y and you know, of course I real Dan found it horrifying, but I feel like the character would have really appreciated it.

[00:14:53] So it's, it's triumphant as opposed to everyone's got a laughing place.

[00:14:59] The tone is completely different.

[00:15:02] The tone is very much like shivering.

[00:15:04] Hey, we're all, this is, this is so fun.

[00:15:06] And it's not scary that you're getting wet.

[00:15:09] It's actually fun.

[00:15:09] It's part of it.

[00:15:11] Psychologically speaking, is it less scary psychologically because it's not a punishment like scary music?

[00:15:17] It's like, oh, hey, look, we're about to have some fun.

[00:15:20] Well, okay.

[00:15:20] Real Dan says that in some ways it definitely is a punishment, but I, I, I don't want to know more about that.

[00:15:32] For not being woke enough.

[00:15:33] Um, but I mean, it, I, I think in terms of it being a ride that is enjoyable, it is a ride that is enjoyable and it works.

[00:15:45] It works well.

[00:15:47] Um, I enjoyed it.

[00:15:49] All I know is that I had more fun than I had with Splash Mountain because it's, it's more of a fun ride.

[00:15:57] Do you find that because you went on Splash Mountain so many times or can you be objective about that?

[00:16:03] Um, I think it's, I think that's just my, so my initial, I went in expecting it to be like, okay, I think I like it.

[00:16:15] You know, like I, I was really not expecting to like it as much as I do.

[00:16:20] But that first splash that you go in, uh, keep skipping, keep skipping.

[00:16:26] Uh, that first splash that you go in is this really good reveal of like, oh, we are actually in a different space now.

[00:16:34] Um, it's, it's really well done.

[00:16:37] And the animatronics are good.

[00:16:40] They're fluid.

[00:16:40] They work.

[00:16:41] It's it.

[00:16:44] If I could flip a switch and go on Splash Mountain just to be like, oh, hey, I remember that.

[00:16:50] Maybe I would, but I don't know that I need it back.

[00:16:55] You know?

[00:16:55] Yeah.

[00:16:55] It sounds like the ride is the ride.

[00:16:57] You're gone for the, the thrill or whatever.

[00:16:59] And the story is kind of irrelevant, but if you're going to do it, it seems like something with newer animatronics and the presentation action packed stuff.

[00:17:08] Yeah.

[00:17:09] Then the presentation just feels tighter there.

[00:17:11] There's less like vast open space, which works, you know, feels, that feels important because a vast majority of the ride is you going through.

[00:17:20] It's true animatronics.

[00:17:21] Right.

[00:17:22] Yeah.

[00:17:22] And there has to be, even if the story isn't coherent, you at least have to be entertained by something happening around you.

[00:17:28] Right.

[00:17:29] And the, and the animatronics aren't there.

[00:17:32] I mean, there clearly aren't as many.

[00:17:33] There's like tens or dozens where they're used to be hundreds.

[00:17:38] Do you notice any leftovers from America Sings?

[00:17:42] They had a weird, like half deteriorated goose, just like in the water, like sparking.

[00:17:50] Other than that.

[00:17:51] Struggling.

[00:17:53] No.

[00:17:54] Wow.

[00:17:55] I would like to see Sam.

[00:17:57] Anyway.

[00:17:58] All right.

[00:17:58] Just in the interest of time and we can come back to anything in the next episode.

[00:18:02] Um, but real quick, you'd mentioned something about the queue at Haunted Mansion and it was like a trial.

[00:18:08] That.

[00:18:09] Oh, yeah.

[00:18:10] So I have, uh, an apologies if I wasn't supposed to share this, but an anonymous source, um, has shared with me that this was sort of a proof of concept.

[00:18:21] And that they are looking at, you know, you'll being able to show Disney that like, not only can this work to expand these cues, but like there's a market for it.

[00:18:33] People are excited for it.

[00:18:35] And it does in fact, expand the concept.

[00:18:37] They are now hoping if Disney is truly on board to get the Pirates of the Caribbean queue to be less of a, just like line of people down, down the walkway.

[00:18:53] Here's some Spanish tiles.

[00:18:54] And then, yeah.

[00:18:55] And then the real challenge would be the Indiana Jones queue because it was, first of all, it was built to handle like two or so hours of queue.

[00:19:09] Yeah.

[00:19:09] That was like the original queue, you know?

[00:19:11] That was the, that was the idea.

[00:19:12] Like, it was like, we can absorb as many people as you can give us.

[00:19:16] Um, and then with fast pass slash lightning lane, they changed it to be just like, well, now we have this outside queue.

[00:19:24] But then you're going to walk through the inside queue.

[00:19:27] Yeah.

[00:19:27] And you have to hold so many people out there because of that.

[00:19:30] Right.

[00:19:31] So it makes the lightning lane, I don't want to say worthless, but instead of being the usual like 10 minute wait, it's like 20, 25.

[00:19:38] Right.

[00:19:39] But most importantly, it's wasting all of that sweet, sweet queue space that could be used.

[00:19:46] Now, having said that, the, there's no, currently there's no natural mix point other than the one that they're currently using.

[00:19:56] And that's, that's the challenge with Indiana Jones is that they might have to, like, rethink the whole thing.

[00:20:02] Oh, wow.

[00:20:03] Yeah.

[00:20:03] But just have to widen it, really?

[00:20:05] Maybe.

[00:20:07] I mean, I don't know.

[00:20:08] I, I, I think, I think the idea is, I think the idea here is, is utility, but also the chance for reinvention.

[00:20:18] Yeah.

[00:20:19] Because, you know, I know, especially now if I spend $400 per person to do whatever and I have to wait 20 minutes for that.

[00:20:25] Supreme.

[00:20:26] Right.

[00:20:26] Stuff.

[00:20:26] I mean, sorry.

[00:20:28] Sorry.

[00:20:28] No, no.

[00:20:30] Supreme.

[00:20:30] My character.

[00:20:33] Um, now I really have to take down the time.

[00:20:37] Sorry, Eric.

[00:20:38] Um, all right.

[00:20:40] So just again, we have a time constraint.

[00:20:43] So, uh, Dan, are you okay to move on and we can come back to anything you may have?

[00:20:46] We're back again next week.

[00:20:48] Just cause it's quick.

[00:20:49] The Uber thing, the idea that I had.

[00:20:50] Oh yeah.

[00:20:51] Yeah.

[00:20:52] Uh, Uber in to the Harbor thing is fine.

[00:20:55] Uber out.

[00:20:55] I had confirmation from multiple Uber drivers.

[00:20:58] If you Uber out from downtown Disney or, uh, Grand Californian hotel, so much easier to get one and so much easier to deal with.

[00:21:08] And last thing they told me is that when you're getting that Uber out, uh, from Harbor, what you're not seeing is that the line to get into that parking lot is the end of it is way up on ball road.

[00:21:22] Oh, wow.

[00:21:23] So it takes them like a half an hour to get through that line, to get to you and deal with all of that effort.

[00:21:31] And the feeling is like, wait, what's your, what's your hand?

[00:21:35] Let me look at you.

[00:21:36] So, so yeah.

[00:21:37] Oh yeah.

[00:21:38] It's me.

[00:21:39] Yeah.

[00:21:39] So then the feeling is like Uber will automatically like assign them to it.

[00:21:44] And they're like, oh great.

[00:21:45] I got to what?

[00:21:46] Oh no.

[00:21:46] Thank you.

[00:21:47] And they'll cancel it because it makes, it makes a lot more sense for them to cancel.

[00:21:51] Because they're getting the $7 either way.

[00:21:53] Yeah.

[00:21:54] They're not getting surge pricing during that time.

[00:21:56] Right.

[00:21:56] So they're, they're just like, I could do like five rides during this time.

[00:22:00] Rather than just walk a block away.

[00:22:03] By the way, that was, that was an, a past show elaboration is what that was.

[00:22:08] Oh yes.

[00:22:09] So we talked about whether it would be better to do downtown Disney, Disneyland hotel or

[00:22:14] Grand Californian and confirmed it is better.

[00:22:17] Yeah.

[00:22:18] So if, if just real last thing, if you're finished, if you're in, if you're ending in Disneyland,

[00:22:23] then with this, with this idea, just take the monorail out, go to the downtown Disney pickup

[00:22:28] and you're good.

[00:22:29] If you're finishing up at California adventure, instead of going through that giant wave of

[00:22:35] people exiting world of color, just go out through the hotel.

[00:22:38] Smart.

[00:22:39] Thank you.

[00:22:40] Yeah.

[00:22:40] Past show elaborations.

[00:22:41] Hey, we have another past show elaboration.

[00:22:44] We have theme music for it too.

[00:22:45] I don't know if I like this song for past show elaborations.

[00:22:48] All right.

[00:22:49] It's fine.

[00:22:50] My sister pointed out that according to some people that she has talked to, VIP tour guides,

[00:22:58] plaids get paid little more than anybody else at the resort.

[00:23:05] So tip them well.

[00:23:07] Well, this point about tipping on a, on a plaid tour is, is kind of one of those things where,

[00:23:14] where people are like, oh, I'm spending thousands of dollars for this.

[00:23:17] Now I have to tip you.

[00:23:19] Yes.

[00:23:20] Tip them.

[00:23:21] Well, these people are some of the highest trained and most knowledgeable people that

[00:23:26] work at the resort.

[00:23:27] Tip them.

[00:23:28] Well, they're one of the few classes you can tip.

[00:23:31] Tip.

[00:23:32] So do it.

[00:23:33] They're doing an amazing job.

[00:23:34] So you don't have to wait in lines.

[00:23:37] And, uh, also you can ask them questions about pretty much anything.

[00:23:41] So.

[00:23:42] Yes.

[00:23:42] Yeah.

[00:23:43] And don't worry.

[00:23:43] They aren't getting just the tip.

[00:23:45] They are also getting, they're getting paid, but little more than they would be paid if

[00:23:49] they were standing at a rope.

[00:23:50] I wasn't going to say that word, Dan.

[00:23:53] That's a dirty word.

[00:23:55] Sorry.

[00:23:56] Tip them well and let them lead the way.

[00:23:59] The plaids are our future.

[00:24:01] Uh, okay.

[00:24:02] So that's our past show elaborations.

[00:24:04] All right.

[00:24:04] Let us move on to the main topic of today, which is Disney.

[00:24:08] We never, we never closed up Dan's frosted tips.

[00:24:10] Oh, sorry.

[00:24:11] There we go.

[00:24:12] Thank God.

[00:24:13] We sandwiched in some past show elaborations.

[00:24:17] And he's.

[00:24:19] Oh, okay.

[00:24:20] Dan's.

[00:24:21] We still sound theater for you.

[00:24:22] Wrapping up.

[00:24:23] Wrapping up the old mailbag.

[00:24:26] Today's main topic is Disney World's moderate hotels.

[00:24:30] There are four, as aforementioned.

[00:24:32] Before we get to it, let's hear this week's theme song.

[00:24:37] Your attention, please.

[00:24:48] Welcome, dear friends, to a world full of dreams where hotel prices hit absurd extremes.

[00:24:53] Stay in magic.

[00:24:54] Pay Disney's high fee or risk.

[00:24:55] Harbor Boulevard where the vibes are gritty.

[00:24:57] Hotels.

[00:24:59] Hotels.

[00:25:04] Hotels.

[00:25:04] Hotels.

[00:25:04] We're savings for it's sketchy at night.

[00:25:08] From Surrey Kingdom hotels, pick your own parade.

[00:25:18] It's magic.

[00:25:20] It's magic and wonder if you can pay the price.

[00:25:23] Or the sound of a siren in the neon lights.

[00:25:28] Here's a floor.

[00:25:30] It's magic and wonder if you can pay the price.

[00:25:39] Hotels.

[00:25:47] Hotels.

[00:25:47] Day at night.

[00:25:49] From Surrey Kingdom hotels, pick your own parade.

[00:25:59] Yes, we'll get back to attractions someday.

[00:26:04] But for now, it's hotels.

[00:26:06] Hope you enjoy your stay.

[00:26:11] That's right.

[00:26:12] We will get back to attractions someday.

[00:26:14] Someday, maybe.

[00:26:15] For now, hotels.

[00:26:18] Hotels.

[00:26:19] From Caribbean flair to Orleans to old southern racism.

[00:26:27] Oh, yes.

[00:26:28] That's in there too.

[00:26:30] Thank God I'm free.

[00:26:32] Thank God real Dan is.

[00:26:35] We might have to reign in real Dan.

[00:26:37] Oh, no.

[00:26:38] All right.

[00:26:38] So here's the thing.

[00:26:39] There are four moderate hotels.

[00:26:41] It's just history, guys.

[00:26:42] Come on.

[00:26:44] That's right.

[00:26:45] You know what?

[00:26:46] If we don't learn from it, we're doomed to repeat it.

[00:26:49] Nah.

[00:26:49] As somebody wants to say.

[00:26:51] Why bother?

[00:26:53] You sound like my nephew.

[00:26:56] There are four.

[00:26:58] And we're going to report on them and explain to you what they are in order.

[00:27:02] Dan is just a silent observer this time.

[00:27:05] I'm just here to be pretty and make fun jokes.

[00:27:08] Yeah.

[00:27:08] But Dan, if you have any questions.

[00:27:10] Oh, I do.

[00:27:11] Please feel free.

[00:27:13] Critically ask us questions.

[00:27:15] What we're going to do is we're going to cover the hotels in order of appearance.

[00:27:19] So they're going to start with Caribbean Beach.

[00:27:20] Then we'll go to both Port Orleans hotels.

[00:27:22] And then we'll finish with Coronado.

[00:27:24] Yeah.

[00:27:26] So, Eric, tell us about the Caribbean Beach Resort.

[00:27:30] Why it was there?

[00:27:32] Whose idea was it?

[00:27:33] How many rooms are there?

[00:27:35] Et cetera.

[00:27:36] Oh, I might need some help on how many rooms are there because that's the part that I was

[00:27:41] like, oh, I hope Jimmy looked this up because I don't have it in my notes.

[00:27:45] I did for the Port Orleans.

[00:27:46] Thank you, please.

[00:27:48] But yes, Michael Eisner, the Walt Disney of our generation.

[00:27:55] Whatever generation we are.

[00:27:57] I thought that was Kanye West.

[00:27:59] Oh, oh, Kanye is.

[00:28:02] Nope.

[00:28:02] He claimed to be at some point.

[00:28:03] Nope.

[00:28:04] Real Dan.

[00:28:06] Sit down.

[00:28:07] Why are you waving that flag?

[00:28:10] Okay.

[00:28:11] Eric, there are, just real quick, there are 1,536 rooms at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

[00:28:19] It is a green lodge and the address is 900 Cayman Way.

[00:28:24] Sweet.

[00:28:25] Now you can send mail to people there.

[00:28:28] Did you know that Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed in the Caribbean?

[00:28:35] The Caribbean Beach Resort?

[00:28:38] No, the actual place.

[00:28:39] That doesn't seem likely.

[00:28:40] I'm looking up fun facts from the real places.

[00:28:42] Oh, okay.

[00:28:43] Okay.

[00:28:44] Opening date, October 1st, 1988.

[00:28:47] This was the first moderate resort at Walt Disney World.

[00:28:50] Michael Eisner said, let's find something that is cheaper for people to go to.

[00:28:55] And of course, my dogs decided this exact time was the perfect time to start barking at I don't know what.

[00:29:02] Now's the time to talk about pet hotels at Disney World.

[00:29:07] That might be a different thing.

[00:29:08] Although, it's a hotel.

[00:29:11] We got to cover it.

[00:29:12] It is a hotel.

[00:29:14] And you can see it from the expressway going in.

[00:29:18] The concept.

[00:29:19] It's inspired by the vibrant colors, architecture, and lush landscapes of the Caribbean islands.

[00:29:25] Or Caribbean islands.

[00:29:27] I don't know how I want to say that word.

[00:29:29] So, I'm just going to keep saying it differently throughout the show.

[00:29:33] It's aimed to offer an affordable but immersive vacation experience for families positioned between value and deluxe.

[00:29:42] So, it's a little bit.

[00:29:44] These rooms are a little bit more elaborate.

[00:29:47] And there are some changes that come along later that make them even more elaborate.

[00:29:54] But yeah, the whole point is not just like it's a hotel.

[00:29:59] It's like, no, this is a Disney experience.

[00:30:02] And yes, it's big.

[00:30:03] It's sprawling.

[00:30:04] It's going to take a while to sometimes find your way to the bus to get out of there.

[00:30:11] That has changed over time.

[00:30:13] And that is a lot that we need to talk about here.

[00:30:18] But yeah, you know, we're trying to...

[00:30:20] Eisner's idea was to find a way to appeal to people with different budgets.

[00:30:25] And get more people to stay in the Disney bubble.

[00:30:29] They have all of this land.

[00:30:31] Get people to stay here.

[00:30:35] The architectural team was overseen by Walt Disney Imagineering.

[00:30:44] Was it just curiosity?

[00:30:46] Was the firm called Flugelberg Coke Architects?

[00:30:58] The answer is yes.

[00:30:59] It was Flugelberg Coke Architects.

[00:31:01] I'm sorry.

[00:31:02] I'm very distracted by my dogs going absolutely berserk.

[00:31:04] I was trying to help.

[00:31:05] Thank you.

[00:31:06] Thank you very much.

[00:31:08] Flugelberg.

[00:31:09] Flugelberg.

[00:31:12] This was at the time when it opened the fifth largest hotel complex in the United States.

[00:31:20] Wow.

[00:31:21] 1,500 rooms.

[00:31:24] The area is themed kind of.

[00:31:27] It's named after islands.

[00:31:29] Kind of like the Polynesian.

[00:31:32] They just named...

[00:31:34] My goodness, this dog.

[00:31:36] Oh.

[00:31:37] Oh.

[00:31:41] Anyway.

[00:31:43] Never buy anything you have to feed.

[00:31:45] What?

[00:31:46] Never buy anything you have to feed.

[00:31:48] That's...

[00:31:48] Oh my goodness.

[00:31:50] Then, I'm sorry, Dan.

[00:31:52] I have to let you go.

[00:31:54] Oh.

[00:31:55] He's not property.

[00:31:58] No.

[00:32:01] Themed after islands.

[00:32:02] I'm sorry.

[00:32:02] That's a bad joke.

[00:32:03] I can't own humans.

[00:32:04] They're not property.

[00:32:05] You're giving me low-hanging fruit that I can't take.

[00:32:10] Yes.

[00:32:11] Let's leave that fruit on the tree.

[00:32:13] Let it rot and fall.

[00:32:15] Oh, it'll rot.

[00:32:16] Don't worry.

[00:32:17] Okay.

[00:32:17] Okay.

[00:32:20] Let's see.

[00:32:20] Aruba, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica.

[00:32:24] Oh, I want to take it.

[00:32:27] The lake in the middle is named Barefoot Bay, and it is 85 acres in size.

[00:32:36] Caribbean Key is the beach and play area along one part of this construction.

[00:32:44] Let's see here.

[00:32:50] So, Marty Sklar and other Imagineers that were involved in this entire experience, basically, they were tasked with, find people to do this.

[00:32:59] Make a big place.

[00:33:01] Make a lot of rooms.

[00:33:03] Make them rooms that people will want to stay in.

[00:33:06] And, yeah, make them feel like they're in a tropical paradise.

[00:33:11] So, it needs to be slightly authentic, but also have some Disney stuff in there.

[00:33:19] So, each of these areas are kind of villages themed to a different Caribbean island.

[00:33:26] There are a lot of pastel hues with white railings, louvered windows, colorful rooftops to reflect Caribbean styles.

[00:33:34] The landscaping has plenty of palm trees and hibiscus and other tropical plants to evoke the feel of these islands.

[00:33:44] And the bay there, well, not bay, I shouldn't call it a bay, the Caribbean lagoon that is the lake.

[00:33:52] It's the water in the middle.

[00:33:54] It's nice.

[00:33:55] They've got beaches around it.

[00:33:59] They have boardwalks over it and around it.

[00:34:02] But it evokes a nice experience of walking around over water.

[00:34:09] Yes, you're in Florida.

[00:34:10] It's not the least tropical place in the world, but you do feel like you're in a different part of a tropical experience.

[00:34:17] So, you get some of the feel of a Disney deluxe resort like the Polynesian.

[00:34:25] It's a little less lush, but there are plenty of buildings there.

[00:34:29] There are plenty of places to eat and shop that are enjoyable.

[00:34:35] It's really just trying to get people who don't want to spend the kind of money to go at the deluxe resorts to come in and still feel like they're part of a Disney location.

[00:34:47] In the bubble.

[00:34:49] In the bubble.

[00:34:49] A couple of things I'd like to point out, just for the listener.

[00:34:53] If you haven't stayed at the Disney World Resort and you're thinking about it, here's how I describe the resort levels.

[00:35:02] And forgive me, I'm a Marriott loyalist, so hopefully you've stayed in similar hotels.

[00:35:07] The Valley Resorts feel like a Fairfield Inn.

[00:35:11] Right?

[00:35:11] Yeah.

[00:35:11] It's not like super fancy.

[00:35:14] A good one or the one across the street?

[00:35:15] Oh, definitely a good one.

[00:35:16] It's a good one because there's also, there's a picture of, you know, well, there's this giant statue of King Triton.

[00:35:22] And you can look at his apps.

[00:35:24] So, the Valley Resorts feel like a Fairfield.

[00:35:27] The moderate resorts feel like a Courtyard Hotel or like a Hilton Garden Inn.

[00:35:32] And then the deluxe resorts feel like a full-service Marriott or a full-service Hilton.

[00:35:36] So, the amenities kind of match, the quality, the soft goods like the beds and that sort of thing.

[00:35:43] That's sort of how I would describe it.

[00:35:45] The other thing we spend a lot of time with the Disneyland stuff is how to get to the parks, right?

[00:35:50] So, regardless of where you stay in the moderate level we talked about last time, you could walk.

[00:35:58] Some of them, you know, you should walk.

[00:36:01] Some of them take the art.

[00:36:02] Some of them, you know, take an Uber or whatever.

[00:36:06] The thing about Caribbean Beach up until just a couple of years ago is you had one choice.

[00:36:11] Despite the fact that it's, I mean, it's across the street from Epcot, right?

[00:36:16] Literally.

[00:36:16] It's very, yeah, very, very close.

[00:36:18] Easy bus ride.

[00:36:19] Yeah, it's, I mean, you could, in theory, walk across the street and be at the back end of the boardwalk, right?

[00:36:25] Oh, but please don't.

[00:36:25] There are no sidewalks.

[00:36:26] Exactly.

[00:36:27] So, that's kind of the point I'm trying to make is that you don't have a choice other than take the bus or drive your car.

[00:36:36] Until the Skyliner.

[00:36:37] So, now you have the Skyliner, you have the bus or you have your car or Uber or whatever.

[00:36:43] So, I would equate the Caribbean Beach without the Skyliner.

[00:36:48] I would equate it to one of the hotels that Dan talked about last week where you're on the art stop, right?

[00:36:54] And it's not exactly like, for the most part, you're not going to go directly from your hotel room to the front of the park.

[00:37:04] You're going to have to get on a bus.

[00:37:06] You're going to have to walk a little ways to get on the bus.

[00:37:08] And then you're going to have to wait until it goes to the other five buildings on property.

[00:37:12] Yeah.

[00:37:12] And then you have to, then you're at the front gate.

[00:37:15] This is a common theme for the moderates that Jimmy will talk about later too.

[00:37:20] Right.

[00:37:20] The value is the same deal.

[00:37:21] Like you just, you know, you maybe, maybe you're the last stop to pick up, which is kind of bad because then you don't have a lot of space.

[00:37:29] But then you're the first one to drop off.

[00:37:33] Yeah.

[00:37:34] Something like that.

[00:37:35] Anyway, go ahead.

[00:37:36] Oh, yeah.

[00:37:36] Then the Skyliner changes everything with this resort.

[00:37:38] The Skyliner absolutely changed this resort.

[00:37:42] The Skyliner is a gondola style transportation device thing.

[00:37:50] I don't know what the right term for it is.

[00:37:52] So the guy's just like in the back singing the whole time and like.

[00:37:54] Not that kind of gondola.

[00:37:58] The Skydala.

[00:37:59] Yeah.

[00:37:59] Yeah.

[00:38:01] It's, there's a giant station in the middle of this resort that now takes you to other resorts, valley resorts like Art of Animation and Pop Century.

[00:38:15] You can head over to Disney Hollywood Studios.

[00:38:18] You can also take this up to Epcot.

[00:38:20] This is major.

[00:38:21] There are two major theme parks that you can go to quickly and easily.

[00:38:27] Without stopping.

[00:38:28] Without stopping.

[00:38:28] Caribbean Beach is the hub.

[00:38:30] And so it's, it's no stops between the two.

[00:38:34] Yeah.

[00:38:34] If you're coming from, like if you're staying at Pop Century, you have to stop at Caribbean Beach and change gondolas to get to where you want to go.

[00:38:42] Yeah.

[00:38:42] And sure, there's a little bit of a line.

[00:38:44] This is one of the highest capacity attractions that you can have.

[00:38:47] And it's totally free.

[00:38:49] And it's way more interesting than a bus.

[00:38:53] Unless you're not a fan of heights.

[00:38:58] Taking, taking, taking this.

[00:39:00] Or being scared that you're going to run into the gondola in front of you every time it comes to the station.

[00:39:03] Well, it's just the thing that happens, you know?

[00:39:07] Sometimes.

[00:39:09] It doesn't really happen that often.

[00:39:10] But going over Caribbean Beach, you get to see the entire area.

[00:39:16] It's beautiful.

[00:39:18] It's fantastic.

[00:39:20] You get to head straight over multiple roadways.

[00:39:25] Like the whole, the Skyliner in 2019 completely changed the way this resort was viewed.

[00:39:34] Because for a long time it was, well, it's cheap, but you also have to walk forever to find a bus that you have to sit on forever.

[00:39:42] And then maybe you'll get to the place you want to go to.

[00:39:45] Now, one half of the resort, one half of the parks in this, at Walt Disney World are accessible easily.

[00:39:55] That's the entire point.

[00:39:57] It was to increase the accessibility and make this resort more valuable.

[00:40:03] And the increased accessibility presumably has increased the, or decreased the value, meaning that you can charge more now because you have more accessibility.

[00:40:13] Yeah.

[00:40:14] Like a deluxe.

[00:40:15] That has happened.

[00:40:16] So it's still a moderate, but it's less moderate than it used to be.

[00:40:21] Mm-hmm.

[00:40:22] Mm.

[00:40:23] Let's see.

[00:40:24] There's not a whole lot to really talk about the resort.

[00:40:27] It's still kind of generic.

[00:40:29] When it comes to Caribbean culture, no.

[00:40:33] There is not that.

[00:40:36] There's a food court.

[00:40:38] There's a food court.

[00:40:39] Do they have Caribbean food?

[00:40:42] Hmm.

[00:40:43] They might have jerked something.

[00:40:44] There you go.

[00:40:45] There's your culture.

[00:40:46] The island breeze at the center town market.

[00:40:48] It has island in the name.

[00:40:49] So, I mean.

[00:40:50] It's clearly Caribbean.

[00:40:51] It doesn't.

[00:40:52] It's just in the.

[00:40:53] You're starting to sound a little bit like a certain character I used to play.

[00:40:55] That's all I'm saying.

[00:40:57] I mean, there are a bunch of places to eat there.

[00:41:00] It's basically.

[00:41:02] It's what Disney does at these resorts.

[00:41:04] It's a little bit elevated above the value.

[00:41:07] There are multiple places to eat.

[00:41:09] There's a cool, like, lounge on the water.

[00:41:15] There's not a whole lot to talk to about this.

[00:41:20] Yeah.

[00:41:20] Do you want me to list some food items from the center town market to prove that?

[00:41:26] There was a sit-down restaurant there.

[00:41:28] It closed for a long time.

[00:41:29] Did it reopen?

[00:41:30] Do you know, like, a full-service dining restaurant?

[00:41:33] Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

[00:41:38] Sebastian's Bistro.

[00:41:40] Sure.

[00:41:40] See?

[00:41:41] There you go.

[00:41:42] Caribbean.

[00:41:42] As in the crab Sebastian.

[00:41:43] Yeah.

[00:41:44] Yes.

[00:41:44] He's a crab.

[00:41:45] You can eat him.

[00:41:47] He wants you to.

[00:41:48] It's also a decent run around the lake.

[00:41:51] Oh, running around the lake is fantastic.

[00:41:55] There's a good, I mean, yeah, it's a decent distance.

[00:42:01] After a certain point in the morning, you're too late,

[00:42:04] and there will be a lot of people wandering around.

[00:42:06] Yeah, that's right.

[00:42:07] But you can watch Disney folks cleaning things up

[00:42:11] and raking the beaches and doing all the stuff.

[00:42:13] I see.

[00:42:14] I stayed in a pirate-themed room once.

[00:42:16] I was going to mention the pirate-themed rooms.

[00:42:18] They were added in...

[00:42:20] They were delightful.

[00:42:23] 2009.

[00:42:24] And they're not there anymore?

[00:42:26] They're there.

[00:42:27] Okay.

[00:42:27] Yeah.

[00:42:27] I thought it was delightful.

[00:42:28] I really enjoyed the decor.

[00:42:30] Yeah.

[00:42:30] Trinidad South is now pirate-themed rooms.

[00:42:36] There's really not a whole lot to talk about.

[00:42:39] At one point, they removed the entrance to the area.

[00:42:43] To replace it with a much larger and fancier hotel,

[00:42:47] the Riviera Resort took over the entrance to the Caribbean beach.

[00:42:54] Now they have Old Port Royale, which is the new entrance to the resort.

[00:43:04] Hey, let me talk to Wing Chow, Vice President of Disney Development.

[00:43:09] Hold on.

[00:43:11] Oh, real Dan.

[00:43:13] Oh, real Dan.

[00:43:14] Oh, okay.

[00:43:14] Sorry.

[00:43:15] Sorry.

[00:43:15] Down boy.

[00:43:16] Look, it's just acting, okay?

[00:43:18] It's just edgy humor.

[00:43:20] That's it.

[00:43:21] Wing basically said that they created this resort as a cheaper, more affordable way for people

[00:43:31] to stay in the fantasy.

[00:43:34] They could leave the Magic Kingdom and stay in the movie set for the rest of their Disney trip.

[00:43:39] Literal quote, we're building a fun experience, a vacation.

[00:43:43] A hotel is an extension of the guest experience.

[00:43:46] When they leave the Magic Kingdom, they can continue their fantasy at their accommodation.

[00:43:49] We want the theming to be so pervasive, the guests feel like they're walking on a movie set.

[00:43:54] I don't know if that's completely true, if they fully pulled that off,

[00:43:59] but it is a very inviting resort, and it is much more affordable than a lot of the other stuff at Walt Disney World.

[00:44:10] I enjoy it, and there it is.

[00:44:16] And Jimmy walked away.

[00:44:19] I think he's next.

[00:44:20] You want some fun facts from the Caribbean?

[00:44:22] Oh, yes.

[00:44:23] Let's learn about the Caribbean.

[00:44:25] Bioluminescent rays.

[00:44:26] Puerto Rico is home to several bioluminescent base.

[00:44:29] Where microorganisms light up the water at night, creating magical glowing effect.

[00:44:34] Let's see.

[00:44:35] Oh, magical.

[00:44:36] Hurricanes happen there.

[00:44:37] I don't know if you know about that.

[00:44:38] The Caribbean consists of over 7,000 islands.

[00:44:43] Ice, Islets, Reefs, and Cays, but only 13% are inhabited.

[00:44:48] That's how you pronounce all of those.

[00:44:49] However, the Caribbean has over 9,000 of them.

[00:44:54] Hmm.

[00:44:55] Mm-hmm.

[00:44:56] Okay.

[00:44:57] That's why they're different.

[00:44:58] Sorry, I didn't.

[00:44:59] I thought that quote was going to be longer.

[00:45:00] Sorry.

[00:45:01] Sorry.

[00:45:01] I also thought it was going to be longer.

[00:45:04] So, a couple of things I want to say also about Caribbean Beach and about the bubble.

[00:45:11] It is moderately priced.

[00:45:12] I believe it was roughly the same price as some of the moderate hotels we talked about last week.

[00:45:19] There's something to be said about, maybe not a movie set, right, that Wing Chow had mentioned, but it is immersive.

[00:45:28] It is themed.

[00:45:29] There's music.

[00:45:30] It's not just a hotel across the street or down the street on Harbor.

[00:45:35] Yeah.

[00:45:35] There's a feel to it.

[00:45:36] There's a good vibe.

[00:45:37] I like it there.

[00:45:37] There's something to be said about that.

[00:45:39] Yeah.

[00:45:39] Now, there is also something to be said about the freedom to be able to, you know, for someone like, I forget if it's real Dan or character Dan, but I don't want to be in the bubble.

[00:45:51] I want to just be able to get an Uber and go stay in a hotel and get out of the bubble.

[00:45:56] So, there's pros and cons to it.

[00:45:58] I mean, they're playing steel drum versions of Disney songs.

[00:46:04] Yeah.

[00:46:04] But still.

[00:46:05] That sounds awesome.

[00:46:06] I don't have to tell you, Dan.

[00:46:08] Oh, I know which Dan that was.

[00:46:10] I don't have to tell you, Dan, that, you know, the power of ambient music and the value of it, having it kind of, it's just, it's more immersive and I like it.

[00:46:21] Yeah.

[00:46:21] All right.

[00:46:22] Should we move on to Port Orleans?

[00:46:24] Let's do it.

[00:46:25] Wait, wait, wait.

[00:46:28] Original name.

[00:46:31] What?

[00:46:32] Dixie Landings.

[00:46:33] No.

[00:46:34] That's, well, you'll hear all about it, Eric.

[00:46:36] Okay.

[00:46:37] Yes, I'm sure you've got all of that.

[00:46:39] You got me hooked when you said Dixie Land.

[00:46:42] I was trying to get Dan back involved in the story here.

[00:46:45] Oh, yeah.

[00:46:45] Thank you.

[00:46:47] So, currently, the Disney Port Orleans Resort is split up into two properties.

[00:46:52] They're the French Quarter and Port Orleans Resort Riverside.

[00:46:56] It's a pair of hotels at the Walt Disney World Resort.

[00:47:01] They're themed to look like both New Orleans and the Old South.

[00:47:05] They're both in the Disney Springs Resort area.

[00:47:09] They're connected to each other, two Disney Springs via a waterway called the Sasagula River.

[00:47:18] Now, this resort, I'm going to call it this resort as in the Port Orleans Resort Riverside and French Quarter.

[00:47:24] I think that's fair.

[00:47:24] They have 3,000 rooms.

[00:47:27] Holy cow.

[00:47:28] They have the largest number of rooms of any resort on Walt Disney World property.

[00:47:34] The Riverside alone is the second largest resort in all of Walt Disney World.

[00:47:40] So, the origin of this, it was in 1982.

[00:47:42] So, this is before Michael Eisner and Dick Wells.

[00:47:48] The current executive then, Dick Nunes.

[00:47:52] He wanted to do a new development near the Empress Lily, which is a steamboat.

[00:47:57] It's a steamboat-inspired restaurant.

[00:47:59] At the time, it was called Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village.

[00:48:03] Of course, now it's Disney Springs.

[00:48:04] The expansion was to include an intricately themed resort hotel complex designed to evoke the relaxing laid-back feel of the city of New Orleans,

[00:48:13] very reminiscent of Disneyland's New Orleans Square.

[00:48:16] So, this was meant to be an extension of the Empress Lily steamboat.

[00:48:22] Surrounding the recently docked steamboat would be a variety of themed buildings with affordably priced guest rooms on the upper levels

[00:48:30] and restaurants and retail outlets on the ground floor.

[00:48:33] Now, of course, this never materialized in the early 80s.

[00:48:36] Green Mail, Epcot wasn't really doing well, corporate takeovers, etc., etc.

[00:48:43] And then Eisner, Wells, and Katzenberg come over.

[00:48:49] And, of course, in the world of Imagineering, no idea ever goes away, blah, blah, blah.

[00:48:53] So, that concept that Dick Nunes had, you know, kind of the riverboat dock with the hotel rooms above and the shops below were finally realized in the 90s at the Boardwalk Resort.

[00:49:08] In the meantime, as part of the massive expansion plans brought about by Michael Eisner in October of 1988,

[00:49:15] Disney, of course, opened its 2,000-plus room Caribbean Beach Resort, which I guess is not 1,500 rooms.

[00:49:21] But anyway.

[00:49:24] Maybe I can look that up.

[00:49:26] The project architects, of course, like Caribbean Beach.

[00:49:29] Fuggyburg.

[00:49:32] Coke's architects.

[00:49:33] That's how it's pronounced.

[00:49:33] In Winter Park, Florida.

[00:49:37] That's the same company that did the Caribbean Beach and Old Key West.

[00:49:41] So, it was Disney's Port Orleans Resort.

[00:49:45] It first opened its doors in May of 1991.

[00:49:50] And originally, it just had 432 guest rooms and three buildings.

[00:49:55] Then it became 1,008 as the resort was completed.

[00:50:01] That was the French Quarter portion.

[00:50:04] The Newport Orleans Resort was linked back to the existing Disney Village Marketplace by the Sasagula River,

[00:50:11] which is a completely man-made two-and-a-half-mile waterway named after the Native American word for the Mississippi.

[00:50:18] Ooh.

[00:50:19] Ooh.

[00:50:20] Isn't that fun?

[00:50:20] Okay.

[00:50:21] So, you can get on the Sasagula River.

[00:50:23] They didn't misspell Sasagula.

[00:50:25] You can get to the Sasagula River.

[00:50:27] It can take you to Old Key West and Disney Springs to both the Marketplace and the West Side.

[00:50:34] Now, I like this.

[00:50:37] I like having more transportation than just a bus, but that waterway will only take you to Disney Springs.

[00:50:45] I have a client currently who's staying at – they're going for 10 days.

[00:50:51] They love Port Orleans.

[00:50:53] They specifically love Port Orleans Riverside.

[00:50:56] I will leave it at that.

[00:50:59] And so, I discouraged them from staying there.

[00:51:04] You're going for 10 days.

[00:51:05] Stay at Caribbean Beach because of everything we just talked about.

[00:51:11] And they booked it.

[00:51:13] And then a few days later, like, you know what?

[00:51:15] We just want to stay at the Riverside.

[00:51:18] So, they are changing their hotel halfway through.

[00:51:21] It's a whole other conversation.

[00:51:23] Old Man Island is pretty cool.

[00:51:24] But in general, I discourage people from staying there because it's not near anything.

[00:51:31] Anyway, so, just down the new river, the Sasagula, was Dixie Landings Resort.

[00:51:43] Now, this opened on the 2nd of February, 1992.

[00:51:46] And it featured rustic-styled alligator bayou lodge buildings.

[00:51:52] Now, shortly after that, phase 2 of this 2nd resort opened with the more elegant sophistication of the Magnolia Bend Mansion buildings, bringing the total guest rooms up to 2,048.

[00:52:10] Okay.

[00:52:10] So, these – let's call it what they are.

[00:52:13] These are plantation-style homes.

[00:52:15] They sure are.

[00:52:16] That is what they are.

[00:52:17] We can't ignore history.

[00:52:20] Okay.

[00:52:20] That's true.

[00:52:22] But we can stay in it.

[00:52:25] It's true.

[00:52:30] Yeah.

[00:52:30] So, then there were restaurants.

[00:52:32] You know, the Bon Famille Cafe closed in August 2000.

[00:52:37] Boatwright's Dining Hall then was the last one at Dixie Landings.

[00:52:42] It continued to serve both sections of the resort.

[00:52:43] Now, in March of 2001, I looked everywhere for this.

[00:52:48] And I could not find anything, like, nefarious or, like, this is the last straw.

[00:52:54] We got to change Dixie Landings.

[00:52:56] The artwork of this place, full-on stars and bars.

[00:53:03] Like, full-on, like –

[00:53:04] Like, actual?

[00:53:05] Like –

[00:53:05] Oh, yeah.

[00:53:06] Confederate flags, like –

[00:53:08] You know what?

[00:53:08] All over the damn place.

[00:53:09] Good on them for having that.

[00:53:13] So, it was March 1st of 2001.

[00:53:15] I can't even commit to that one.

[00:53:16] I'm sorry.

[00:53:17] Okay.

[00:53:18] Thank you.

[00:53:18] The transfer –

[00:53:19] Look it up, folks.

[00:53:21] You can't –

[00:53:21] There's an audio medium.

[00:53:22] But look up Dixie Landings Resort.

[00:53:26] It's real.

[00:53:27] Like, why did it –

[00:53:28] Why did they build it in the 90s?

[00:53:30] Question one.

[00:53:30] I guess the same people that built Splash Mountain.

[00:53:33] I don't know.

[00:53:34] Anyway, there's a reason they closed it.

[00:53:39] I mean, ultimately, it was a theme, and they didn't think it was as bad as it was going to get.

[00:53:45] Well, I think the idea, of course, is it is in Florida.

[00:53:49] Old South.

[00:53:50] People are coming from around the world.

[00:53:52] Like the Caribbean.

[00:53:54] I mean, ultimately, it's the California Adventure problem, right?

[00:53:57] In that, hey, you're coming to California.

[00:53:59] No need to go to San Francisco.

[00:54:00] We got the Golden Gate right here.

[00:54:02] Right.

[00:54:03] No need to go to the Caribbean.

[00:54:04] You can stay there.

[00:54:05] Why drive to Georgia?

[00:54:07] Yeah, no need to go to Georgia.

[00:54:09] We got plantation houses.

[00:54:10] I think that's the general conceit of the resort.

[00:54:14] But the whole Confederate flag symbolism, all that stuff.

[00:54:17] Yeah, it's a bit much.

[00:54:20] Yeah.

[00:54:20] So, on March 1st, 2001, the transformation of Dixie Landing,

[00:54:23] Landings and Port Orleans into one large resort began with changes to the road signage.

[00:54:29] And then on April 1st, 2001, Port Orleans and Dixie Landings officially merged to form one large resort.

[00:54:37] The reason for the merger, this is the best I could come up with, was never officially announced, but most assume it was due to possible, possible inferred racial and slavery undertones.

[00:54:50] Yes, yep.

[00:54:54] And, by the way, the backstory, which I'm not going to read here, but the backstory had a little bit of the racial and slavery undertones, the cotton plantation and all that in the backstory.

[00:55:06] But, in fact, the two, this is, by the way, this is from portorleans.org.

[00:55:12] Uh-huh.

[00:55:13] Okay.

[00:55:13] So, a fan site for-

[00:55:15] A fan site about this resort.

[00:55:17] Okay.

[00:55:17] The two sections said, always shared the same management team, but this process completely removed all vestiges of old Dixie Landings terminology.

[00:55:25] Jimmy, I would prefer that you say replaced it.

[00:55:29] Instead of remove?

[00:55:31] Remove.

[00:55:31] They replaced it, because that's what's happening.

[00:55:34] Okay.

[00:55:36] Replacement theory?

[00:55:38] You know what?

[00:55:40] I, I, I, yes, okay.

[00:55:42] That's, uh, that's exactly what I remember.

[00:55:44] Oh, I see what's happening here.

[00:55:45] Okay.

[00:55:47] Uh, they even-

[00:55:48] What's going on?

[00:55:49] They changed some of the road names, even.

[00:55:51] So, Dixie Drive, leading up to the main building, became Riverside Drive.

[00:55:56] The Dixon and Mason Platform bus stops became the Blue Bayou-

[00:56:01] Oh, God.

[00:56:03] I didn't know about those.

[00:56:05] Yeah, they became Blue Bayou Platform.

[00:56:08] Uh, uh.

[00:56:09] Uh, and now, of course, simply-

[00:56:11] You know, I gotta appreciate the boldness of that.

[00:56:15] And Plantation Drive became, uh, Monte Cristo Way.

[00:56:19] That's right.

[00:56:19] Well, now it's called South Depot A.

[00:56:23] Jesus.

[00:56:24] Yep.

[00:56:25] The River Delta Platform is now South Depot B.

[00:56:29] I love stuff like that, because it's, it's, it's like, um, we don't know what we're allowed

[00:56:35] to name this, so it's South 12B.

[00:56:42] That's right.

[00:56:43] Is that neutral enough for you?

[00:56:47] There's more.

[00:56:48] The Colonel Cotton's, the Colonel's Cotton Mill Food Court, with its Southern Trace Bakery,

[00:56:55] Filet Cajun Broiler, Riverside Market and Deli, Blue Bayou Burgers, and Chicken Acadian

[00:57:01] Pizza and Pasta, became the rather plainer Riverside Mill.

[00:57:06] The Cotton Co-op turned into the River Roost Lounge, and even the Dixie Levee Marina morphed

[00:57:15] into the Riverside Levee.

[00:57:17] Uh, uh, we'll call it, we'll call it, uh, food, food land.

[00:57:23] They're, they're good places to eat, and they look nice.

[00:57:27] Yeah.

[00:57:27] Uh, River Roost is a place that I've hung out a bunch.

[00:57:30] Uh, Jimmy, do you have, do you have Yeehaw Bob?

[00:57:34] No, I don't, I don't, I don't.

[00:57:35] Oh, no.

[00:57:37] Yeah.

[00:57:39] I can talk about Yeehaw Bob if you really want me.

[00:57:41] Talk about Yeehaw Bob.

[00:57:42] Okay.

[00:57:42] Who's this Yeehaw Bob person?

[00:57:44] You go to the River Roost Tavern, and, uh, there's a guy who plays there several days a

[00:57:50] week called Yeehaw Bob.

[00:57:51] Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:57:52] Sorry.

[00:57:52] Um, he's, he's a, he's a famous guy.

[00:57:55] He's been playing piano there.

[00:57:58] He does two sets a night.

[00:57:59] He's there very late in the evening.

[00:58:02] He's a really nice guy, but he, but, but that's it.

[00:58:08] He's, he's a, he's a piano player.

[00:58:10] He's a singer.

[00:58:12] And he has become well known enough that people will pack out this lounge.

[00:58:18] He's old.

[00:58:18] Wow.

[00:58:18] More than like any other Disney lounge I've ever seen.

[00:58:22] People wait for this guy to show up and do his show.

[00:58:26] And if he's not playing, it is significantly fewer people there.

[00:58:31] Um, yeah, he's old.

[00:58:33] Yeah.

[00:58:34] He's an older guy and he was, he was laid off during COVID early COVID times, but he is

[00:58:40] back.

[00:58:41] Um, he's, he's still got it.

[00:58:43] He's just a super sweet guy who he's a musician.

[00:58:49] He plays it multiple places around town and this is his one place that he's there a frequent

[00:58:55] amount.

[00:58:56] And people will, it's so weird for a resort that is so removed from the rest of Walt Disney

[00:59:02] world.

[00:59:03] Right.

[00:59:04] People go to this resort to hear him play.

[00:59:06] Yeah.

[00:59:08] Yeah.

[00:59:08] Uh, the French quarter is a more, it sells out faster and it could because there's a thousand

[00:59:15] rooms, but I prefer the French quarter decor.

[00:59:19] Yeah.

[00:59:19] I mean, the decor is nicer and they've got the scat cat lounge and right.

[00:59:24] Which is a, it is a cool, what, what, the what now?

[00:59:27] Scat cat cat lounge.

[00:59:29] It's a cool jazz lounge.

[00:59:30] Do you like jazz?

[00:59:31] Dan likes jazz.

[00:59:32] One of the Dan's likes jazz.

[00:59:35] Um, it's, it's, it's a different kind of a joke.

[00:59:37] I'm not going to point it out.

[00:59:38] Yeah.

[00:59:38] Okay.

[00:59:39] Thank you.

[00:59:39] That's what happens when animals poop.

[00:59:43] Not just animals.

[00:59:44] All right.

[00:59:45] So moving on.

[00:59:46] Um, I thought this was interesting, you know, that what happened in 2001 and this new Dan's

[00:59:53] going to be real excited about this.

[00:59:55] You mean the terrible events.

[00:59:58] Sorry.

[00:59:58] Real Dan.

[01:00:00] Uh, this is, this is, so first of all, this is 325.

[01:00:03] This resort, right?

[01:00:05] 3,056 guest rooms.

[01:00:07] Remember that number.

[01:00:08] Okay.

[01:00:09] Uh, after 2001, nine 11, uh, tourist demand dropped so much that the French quarter was

[01:00:15] closed completely.

[01:00:17] And the riverside was only 350 rooms.

[01:00:23] It's crazy.

[01:00:24] Uh, yeah.

[01:00:26] Just didn't open it.

[01:00:27] Just didn't open it.

[01:00:28] There are 350 rooms in the whole resort from 3,056 to 350.

[01:00:32] Uh, the Sasagula river cruise was taken out of service.

[01:00:36] Um, and then eventually reopened in 2002, blah, blah, blah.

[01:00:40] There's been a renovations.

[01:00:41] The last renovations, uh, 2006, 2007.

[01:00:46] Uh, there's more in 2012.

[01:00:48] They have color TVs now.

[01:00:50] Oh, no.

[01:00:51] Thank God.

[01:00:52] No, that's right.

[01:00:53] Finally, someone can.

[01:00:54] It's about time.

[01:00:55] I can confirm.

[01:00:56] Uh, the, the balloon lagoon open in 2016.

[01:01:01] It's a new water play area, et cetera, et cetera.

[01:01:04] And then they have the Sasagula times, which is a free handout information sheet.

[01:01:09] It has been issued to guests staying at Porter leans or Dixie landing since they first

[01:01:14] opened.

[01:01:14] It started as two extremely elaborate eight page tabloid newspapers, the Sasagula times

[01:01:20] for Dixie landings and the Sasagula sentinel for Porter leans, which documented the entire

[01:01:28] fictional backstory of the two resorts.

[01:01:29] Again, folks look it up.

[01:01:31] It'd take me another hour and a half to read it all, but more recently has been reduced

[01:01:35] to a single simpler four page, uh, format, kind of a letter format handout.

[01:01:41] Uh, yeah, there's a lot more detail.

[01:01:43] Okay.

[01:01:44] So that's kind of the resort.

[01:01:46] I do have some fun facts that I'd like to share.

[01:01:49] Uh, just, you know, um, I do know.

[01:01:55] Thank you.

[01:01:57] But, um, anyway.

[01:02:01] There's just a lot and I don't want to space.

[01:02:03] Yeah.

[01:02:04] Um, so how about this, Eric, why don't you go on to Coronado Coronado and I'll pull out

[01:02:12] the ones that I think are the most interesting.

[01:02:14] Oh yeah.

[01:02:14] Just interrupt me mid sentence with fun facts.

[01:02:18] I'll interrupt you with fun facts about Coronado as well.

[01:02:22] Okay.

[01:02:22] Okay.

[01:02:23] Coronado Springs Resort.

[01:02:24] Not the Hotel Del Coronado, Dan.

[01:02:26] Nope.

[01:02:26] No.

[01:02:26] Coronado, California.

[01:02:28] Please don't interrupt me with Hotel Del Coronado facts, Dan.

[01:02:31] Please do.

[01:02:33] Okay.

[01:02:34] There's a lot about, uh, Coronado Springs actually.

[01:02:36] The resort was initially designed as a companion to Blizzard Beach water park.

[01:02:44] So the entire intent was to have this be an alpine resort where you could take a chairlift

[01:02:50] from the resort to the water park across the road.

[01:02:56] Uh, that didn't work out.

[01:02:58] I probably had something to do with the chairlift.

[01:03:01] Uh, but the entire resort was eventually designed by Graham gunned architects.

[01:03:07] Hmm.

[01:03:08] Sorry.

[01:03:09] Don't ignore me.

[01:03:10] I'm sorry.

[01:03:10] Oh yeah.

[01:03:11] Yeah.

[01:03:11] Don't ignore Dan.

[01:03:13] Um, no, do.

[01:03:15] Oh, do.

[01:03:16] Okay.

[01:03:16] Graham gunned architects also designed, uh, the, uh, hotel celebration in celebration,

[01:03:23] Florida, which we all need to talk about eventually.

[01:03:29] Uh, from 1900 to 1939 Coronado had a tent city where visitors stayed in canvas tents that

[01:03:36] offered affordable alternatives to the luxury of the hotel.

[01:03:39] Oh, nice.

[01:03:41] Okay.

[01:03:41] The original resort has 1,951 rooms.

[01:03:47] The new grand destino tower adds an additional 545 guest rooms that was added in 2019.

[01:03:55] So the initial resort was very much like, uh, Caribbean beach where it's a cluster of, of

[01:04:03] multi-level kind of house motels structures that are around a lake and there are places

[01:04:11] to eat and do other stuff.

[01:04:14] Uh, and, uh, then they added this large hotel at the entrance of it, uh, which many are not

[01:04:23] many.

[01:04:24] I don't know about how many, some people are not, uh, super excited about the design of

[01:04:29] it, but several, you can say several, I can name them if we're going to just stick to

[01:04:36] several, but, but you know what?

[01:04:38] But it's there.

[01:04:39] Um, anyway, this, once they abandoned the Alpine hotel design, uh, Cindy McKenzie became

[01:04:47] the project coordinator and she did a bunch of research in Oaxaca.

[01:04:50] Uh, the teams went around Mexico.

[01:04:53] They decided, uh, to make this, uh, this resort, a Meso America, uh, sort of design.

[01:05:03] And that came from, um, our good friend.

[01:05:08] Oh, why am I forgetting his name already?

[01:05:11] Um, same guy I talked about, um, earlier.

[01:05:20] The registration lobby in the Port Orleans, the Port Orleans Mint is located in the commercial

[01:05:26] building of Port Orleans Square is themed after the inside of a commercial bank of the 1800s.

[01:05:32] The musical staff notes across the registration desk represent the first verse of the classic tune.

[01:05:38] Dan?

[01:05:40] Uh, the Anagata Davida.

[01:05:43] New real Dan.

[01:05:45] Oh, sorry.

[01:05:46] Uh, Dixie.

[01:05:47] When the saints go marching.

[01:05:50] Oh, damn it.

[01:05:50] Oh, that's a little less.

[01:05:52] There's a couple of references.

[01:05:53] That's less real, less historical.

[01:05:55] A couple of references to the aristocrats, the aristocats, excuse me.

[01:05:59] Bonfemi's Cafe, which is now closed, was named after Madame Bonfemi from the aristocats.

[01:06:06] Also referenced the naming of the scat cats club, by the way.

[01:06:10] At the food court, the bakery section was originally named Jacques Beignets, which is not only another

[01:06:16] Aristocats reference, but also an actual pun on American comedian Jack Benny.

[01:06:23] Oh.

[01:06:24] Jack's Beignets.

[01:06:25] Jack Benny.

[01:06:26] I get it.

[01:06:27] Wing Chow is the name I was looking for.

[01:06:30] Vice president of Disney.

[01:06:32] Real Dan?

[01:06:33] Stop it.

[01:06:36] All right.

[01:06:37] Coronado Springs opened in 1997 in August as a moderate resort, um, inspired by the cultures

[01:06:43] of Mexico, Spain, and the American Southwest.

[01:06:46] It was also designed as a convention space because the, the convention spaces that Disney had

[01:06:53] done previously were basically deemed as too expensive for most convention goers.

[01:06:59] So like the big convention space at, uh, the contemporary where Richard Nixon, uh, declared

[01:07:07] that he was not a crook, that, that space too pricey.

[01:07:13] Dan?

[01:07:14] Dan.

[01:07:16] He gets a bad rap.

[01:07:17] That's all I'm saying.

[01:07:18] I'm just saying it was out of, that quote is out of context, obviously.

[01:07:22] Um, but the design elements in this area had to kind of bridge the gap between convention

[01:07:30] goers and Disney people.

[01:07:32] Uh, so there were vibrant colors, there were arched facades, decorative tile work, but

[01:07:38] it was also a little muted in certain areas where they didn't want to make it too themed.

[01:07:43] They didn't want convention goers to feel like they were actually in Mexico.

[01:07:48] Whoa.

[01:07:50] That's crazy to think that they might do that.

[01:07:53] Uh, the area has done pretty well.

[01:07:57] Uh, and then in 2019, they added in the new grand Destino tower, which, um, is named for

[01:08:05] the movie Destino, uh, which was a project between Dan.

[01:08:11] Uh, producer and a studio.

[01:08:15] Hmm.

[01:08:16] And no, uh, Walt Disney and Salvador Dali.

[01:08:20] Oh, that's right.

[01:08:22] Yeah.

[01:08:22] Yeah.

[01:08:23] Walt and Salvador wanted to do a, an animated feature for, for a long time.

[01:08:28] And they tried to collaborate.

[01:08:29] It never really fully came to fruition until both of them had died.

[01:08:33] And Roy E.

[01:08:35] Disney finished the film.

[01:08:37] There's a great book about it.

[01:08:38] Uh, they play the film in the lobby of, of the tower.

[01:08:43] It's a really interesting film.

[01:08:44] Yeah.

[01:08:45] It's, it is really interesting to see a, a classic animation guy do a project with a surrealist.

[01:08:53] Um, it's yeah.

[01:08:54] Yeah.

[01:08:54] Very interesting, different topic.

[01:08:57] So this location is, even though it's no longer connected directly to, uh, a water park,

[01:09:06] it is, uh, noted for its proximity to Epcot, Hollywood studios, Disney's animal kingdom.

[01:09:13] Now that the Skyliner has come along, it's a little bit of a pariah because there it's all

[01:09:21] bus.

[01:09:22] It's, it's tighter than some of the other big resorts like the, uh, Port Orleans resorts.

[01:09:31] There's nowhere to go.

[01:09:32] There are plenty of places to eat.

[01:09:34] There's plenty of stuff to do and I'll, I'll get to that.

[01:09:36] We're running low on time, but really the resort is in the middle of nowhere.

[01:09:42] It's one of the few places that's close to animal kingdom.

[01:09:45] It's considered an animal kingdom area lodge.

[01:09:50] Um, but you still have to take a bus there.

[01:09:53] Some people might like that aspect though.

[01:09:55] Like the far away part.

[01:09:57] I really enjoy staying there.

[01:10:00] It's, it's a cool place.

[01:10:01] It's got another runnable lake, uh, and you know, area around there.

[01:10:07] There are so many different places to eat.

[01:10:10] Uh, it's very well designed despite it being kind of bland in the convention center space.

[01:10:17] They do have a lot of interesting things to look at around the resort.

[01:10:21] It's just, uh, you know, it's, it's Spanish colonial mixed with, uh, Marriott.

[01:10:27] I like the, I like the pool with the temple and the water falling.

[01:10:32] That's awesome.

[01:10:34] Yes.

[01:10:34] Um, and part of, part of the, uh, the original, uh, original design, um, is that there is a Mayan temple temple that was discovered here in this place.

[01:10:49] So it's not like, it's not like Disney Springs where Meriwether, Meriwether Adam pleasure found this place and, uh, just built a bunch of stuff there.

[01:10:59] This is supposed to be another destination.

[01:11:01] This is not in Florida.

[01:11:03] Um, so fun fact.

[01:11:07] It's not too far from the, the winter summer land and the, uh, uh, Blizzard Beach.

[01:11:12] Right.

[01:11:13] Not very far.

[01:11:13] Right.

[01:11:14] Not very far at all.

[01:11:15] Um, so the real person Francisco de Coronado left Mexico in 1540 to find golden cities.

[01:11:23] Um, in an imagineering thing, imagineers imagineered a place that was founded by a descendant of Juan Francisco who is not problematic in any way.

[01:11:33] Sorry, Dan.

[01:11:35] He's just a nice guy who found a place.

[01:11:38] He found a pyramid.

[01:11:39] I think it's several people like that.

[01:11:41] Oh, okay.

[01:11:42] Great.

[01:11:42] Excellent.

[01:11:43] Uh, Juan found a pyramid in 1569.

[01:11:50] Sorry.

[01:11:51] Go ahead.

[01:11:51] I told you to interrupt me, but.

[01:11:58] History.

[01:11:59] I love history.

[01:12:00] Yes.

[01:12:01] Dan loves history.

[01:12:02] Juan found a pyramid in 1569 atop the Coronado Springs, which were named by indigenous people for sure.

[01:12:10] Absolutely.

[01:12:11] And, uh, he made it into a super cool pool with a water slide.

[01:12:16] Uh, then he left and it took hundreds of years for Disney Imagineers to find his diary and find this place again.

[01:12:23] Wing Chow, um, again, vice president of Disney.

[01:12:28] No, I see that.

[01:12:29] Look in your eye.

[01:12:30] Uh, uh, stop it.

[01:12:32] Uh, he wanted to create a space where people wanted to go on vacation, but it's in Florida.

[01:12:38] Um, he created this convention space.

[01:12:41] The, the Coronado ballroom in this convention center is 60,214 square feet.

[01:12:48] It is one of the largest convention centers in the world.

[01:12:52] Um, but, uh, but yeah, ultimately.

[01:12:57] This is largely a convention hotel, right?

[01:13:00] And they, they built the tower so that the high muckety mucks who were going to these conventions had a sweet and nice places to stay.

[01:13:07] Exactly.

[01:13:08] You could get, you could get some height.

[01:13:09] You could look out at an interesting view.

[01:13:12] That's more than the two level stuff that everybody, all the, all the schmucks get to stay at.

[01:13:17] But wouldn't Disney world be the least like economically viable place to hold a convention?

[01:13:26] Like if you held a convention there, wouldn't that basically be saying to the entire industry?

[01:13:31] Like we don't know how to handle our money.

[01:13:34] But you're also.

[01:13:35] I think what it is, is trying to get people to go.

[01:13:37] That's why they have conventions in Las Vegas and conventions in San Diego and they have conventions in Florida because people will go there.

[01:13:45] Absolutely.

[01:13:45] Absolutely.

[01:13:46] That's the idea is yes, we're spending this money, but you, you can take your family here and your wife and kids can do something while you go and do work.

[01:13:55] Sorry.

[01:13:56] I slipped back into character for a second.

[01:13:58] I didn't realize that it was in fact the most pure form of art in the world, which is advertising.

[01:14:06] That's correct.

[01:14:06] And I mean, there's, that's why there's, there's a convention center at, um, Swan and Dolphin.

[01:14:11] There's one of the contemporary.

[01:14:12] There's one at the, uh, was it Yacht and Beach maybe has one?

[01:14:16] Yeah, they do.

[01:14:17] Um, the obviously Coronado there's, yeah, it's convention capital of the world, Florida.

[01:14:23] There's a bigger one at like outside of, I mean, it's in Orlando, but outside of the resort.

[01:14:30] The Orlando convention center.

[01:14:32] Yeah.

[01:14:32] Yeah.

[01:14:32] That one, that one's pretty big.

[01:14:33] It's a big one.

[01:14:34] Yeah.

[01:14:35] Anyway, in 2019, they said, let's renovate all of the rooms in the entire resort and also add a big ass tower that is 15 floors and has another 500 rooms.

[01:14:45] And so I already talked about Walt and Salvador Dali.

[01:14:49] So there, they designed this hotel to have a more Spanish flair.

[01:14:54] Imagineer David Stofchick, um, says the ribbon design.

[01:14:58] If you look at the tower, there's this, this like gold wave coming down it that is interesting to look at.

[01:15:09] But the idea was to make it look like water flowing down the building into Lake Dorado, which is the, the big lake in the center of the area.

[01:15:18] Uh, so this place, uh, it has a definite modern Spanish flair.

[01:15:27] It's not like it, it, it's, it's trying to go for something that's more upscale and recent.

[01:15:33] So they have the, uh, restaurant Toledo up top and a lounge named Dahlia, uh, which is.

[01:15:43] Got it.

[01:15:45] Okay.

[01:15:45] Oh, good.

[01:15:46] He got it.

[01:15:46] Yeah.

[01:15:46] Yeah.

[01:15:47] There we go.

[01:15:48] Um, there, there's a very good lounge.

[01:15:52] It's a very good restaurant.

[01:15:54] Uh, I actually preferred my time at Toledo to, uh, Topolino's at Riviera.

[01:16:02] Just saying.

[01:16:03] And, um, yeah.

[01:16:05] And then down in the, if you walk, when you walk in the entrance of this area, there's a, a lower level that leads out to the pools and the lake and everything.

[01:16:14] But there's also a Barcelona lounge downstairs, which just has a really cool vibe to it.

[01:16:20] And it is a gin bar in the morning.

[01:16:23] It's a coffee bar.

[01:16:24] And in the rest of the day, it's a gin bar, which we spent a lot of time at.

[01:16:29] But this is a convention hotel.

[01:16:31] So odds are you can get gin in your coffee in the morning.

[01:16:33] There you go.

[01:16:34] Yeah.

[01:16:35] Pretty much.

[01:16:37] Um, there are plenty of other places to eat around this resort.

[01:16:41] So we've got Toledo.

[01:16:43] We've got three bridges, bar and grill, uh, which is in the middle of the lake.

[01:16:48] They have, uh, they're known for their sangria.

[01:16:52] There is Rick's sports bar and grill, which is, um, I had breakfast there after a race and it was fantastic.

[01:17:01] Uh, let's see.

[01:17:02] We talked about Dahlia lounge, Barcelona lounge, Siesta's cantina, which is, uh, it's a bar on the water.

[01:17:09] Uh, Maya grill, which is a sit down restaurant cafe.

[01:17:13] Rick's another sit down restaurant.

[01:17:16] Um, El Mercado de Coronado, which is a very large, yes, very large, very, very large.

[01:17:24] It's, it's convention center, but it's also, it's kind of like at, uh, at, uh, art of animation where we talked about, they have, it's a large open market sort of place where they've got a lot of different options.

[01:17:37] Like a food court.

[01:17:38] Yeah.

[01:17:39] Yeah.

[01:17:39] Yeah.

[01:17:40] It's, yeah.

[01:17:41] It's designed for tons of people.

[01:17:44] You could probably find a cinnamon bun, but not a Cinnabon.

[01:17:48] Do you like Cinnabon?

[01:17:50] No.

[01:17:51] Should you get extra, extra frosting?

[01:17:53] Listen to After Hours, everybody.

[01:17:58] And there we are.

[01:18:00] The Sasagula Steamboat Company lobby.

[01:18:04] This is the lobby of the riverside.

[01:18:06] It reminds you Sasagula, of course, means Mississippi in Native American language.

[01:18:11] It also houses the registration desk and guest services.

[01:18:14] This is themed after an inside of an actual riverboat.

[01:18:18] And you can see the ports of call listed around the tops of the decorative columns.

[01:18:22] They are Riverside, French Quarter, Gretna, Chalamet, Port Eads, St. Louis, St. Genevieve, Cape Giraudet, Cairo, New Madrid, Carothersville, Memphis, Helena, Greenville, Vicksburg, Vidalia, Natchez, and Baton Rouge.

[01:18:45] All of the proper names that were listed are Confederate generals.

[01:18:51] That's right.

[01:18:52] Thank God.

[01:18:54] This is fun.

[01:18:55] The great concrete walkways throughout the resort, which feature wooden plank effects.

[01:19:00] So it's concrete, but it looks like wooden planks.

[01:19:04] These are all the main routes from the waterside area through to the parking lot.

[01:19:09] So if you get lost, just follow the concrete, follow the walkway.

[01:19:14] The leaf imprints, of course, and the concrete were made by placing actual leaves in the wet concrete.

[01:19:20] And then as soon as it dried, they pulled the leaves.

[01:19:25] The wooden alligator bayou guest beds were hand carved from hickory by a North Carolina woodworker hired by Disney specifically for the resort.

[01:19:35] I was really hoping that you were going to say a bayou gator.

[01:19:38] Yes.

[01:19:39] No, it was, they were all carved by Hiram Gatorwood.

[01:19:42] Speaking of gators, do you ever wonder why they chose the mottled green carpeting for the alligator bayou rooms?

[01:19:52] So when the gator gets into the lobby, he wouldn't notice.

[01:19:55] You can't tell.

[01:19:57] They blend in.

[01:19:58] It's go away green.

[01:20:00] That's right.

[01:20:01] It's meant to represent alligator skin texture, of course.

[01:20:05] All right.

[01:20:05] Swimming pools, guys.

[01:20:07] Swimming pools.

[01:20:07] The 8,500 square foot, 225,000 gallon doubloon lagoon pool at French Quarter is highlighted by a colorful 51-foot sea serpent called Scales.

[01:20:24] He emerges from the pool in a blaze of purple and turquoise.

[01:20:28] The name Scales, invented by Greg Hammer, is also a fun reference to the song Scales,

[01:20:36] and Arpeggios from the Aristocats.

[01:20:40] Aristocats again.

[01:20:42] Sitting atop the serpent's head is a colorful likeness of King Neptune, and situated around the pool are comical Mardi Gras characters.

[01:20:50] The pool is named after the gold coin originally used in Spain and Spanish America.

[01:20:56] It's not pop century, okay?

[01:21:00] Well, they try.

[01:21:00] It's tasteful.

[01:21:01] The three and a half acre Old Man Island.

[01:21:04] How dare you?

[01:21:04] That's ol as in O-L apostrophe, Dan.

[01:21:07] Old Man Island.

[01:21:09] Mm-hmm.

[01:21:09] Formed the middle of this.

[01:21:10] It's in the middle of the Sasagula River.

[01:21:12] I'm comfortably close to Olay, but I'll take it for its downward foot.

[01:21:17] This is in the middle of the Sasagula River.

[01:21:19] It serves as a recreational area for the riverside.

[01:21:22] The main pool is 12,980 square feet, contains 158,000 gallons of water.

[01:21:27] The water slide is 95 feet long.

[01:21:30] This I like.

[01:21:31] The fishing hole at Old Man Island is stocked with catfish, bluegill, and bass.

[01:21:37] Yeah.

[01:21:38] That's cool.

[01:21:39] Also, fun fact, while it took hundreds of people working for days and days to replant

[01:21:48] the live oak tree on Old Man Island, it is the largest living oak tree ever to be transplanted.

[01:21:57] Damn.

[01:21:57] The original height was 55 feet and it weighed approximately 85 tons.

[01:22:03] This live oak and its sister in front of the Port Orleans Riverside were transplanted from

[01:22:08] the site that now contains Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

[01:22:14] A wooden plaque on the island reads as follows.

[01:22:16] So these two trees were transplanted from what is now Animal Kingdom, the largest trees

[01:22:21] ever to be transplanted.

[01:22:23] There's a plaque that says, on Earth Day, April 22, 1991, this majestic live oak was placed

[01:22:31] in its new home before you.

[01:22:33] The oak was and its companion at the entrance of Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside.

[01:22:38] Each weighed 85 tons and were transplanted from a wooden location 13 miles away.

[01:22:43] Cypress boxes 22 square foot were constructed around the beneath each oak.

[01:22:48] And after months of preparation, the transportation took three days.

[01:22:53] Damn.

[01:22:54] Old Man Island was then constructed around this oak as you see it now.

[01:22:59] Isn't that fun?

[01:23:01] We only have a few minutes left here, so I'm going to counter with more pools.

[01:23:05] Great.

[01:23:05] The Mayan Pyramid Pool that Jimmy referenced earlier that is atop Coronado Springs.

[01:23:11] It is 50 feet tall.

[01:23:14] The pyramid has a 120 foot long slide going down it.

[01:23:21] It is a water slide, just in case you're wondering.

[01:23:25] Yeah.

[01:23:25] It's really fun.

[01:23:26] It's pretty cool.

[01:23:27] The classic 1959 comedy starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon,

[01:23:32] Some Like a Hot, was filmed at the Hotel Del Coronado.

[01:23:37] In San Diego.

[01:23:39] In San Diego.

[01:23:39] There you go.

[01:23:40] Thank you.

[01:23:41] The Coronado Springs Hotel also hosts the largest hot tub on property.

[01:23:45] It can accommodate 22 people.

[01:23:47] Nice.

[01:23:49] That's quite a time, everybody.

[01:23:51] That's fun.

[01:23:52] So I think in short, we talked about the transportation factors.

[01:23:57] Coronado Springs and Port Orleans just don't.

[01:24:00] If you're staying at Disney World and you want to stay in a moderate,

[01:24:03] if you have a choice, stay at the Caribbean Beach.

[01:24:07] Coronado might get the, if they ever extend the Skyliner, it'll go to Animal Kingdom and it will include Coronado Springs.

[01:24:16] Exactly.

[01:24:17] Then now the new official outliers, Port Orleans.

[01:24:21] Although, again, the Sassagula you can take to Disney Springs.

[01:24:25] That's fine.

[01:24:25] Pretty great.

[01:24:26] The other thing I think is important we talked a lot about with the Disneyland moderates was where to eat.

[01:24:33] And a lot of them, you know, you go across the street to Buca de Beppo or there's the hotel cafe or whatever.

[01:24:40] I think it's, you know, you're not limited at Disneyland to the hotel like you are at Caribbean Beach, for example.

[01:24:51] Now, you can take a bus to Disney Springs.

[01:24:53] You can do theme parks, whatever.

[01:24:55] And of course, you have the Riviera now.

[01:24:56] But it's just not as easy.

[01:24:58] It's not as easy.

[01:24:59] Now, Coronado, for that reason, is a lot of choices, but, you know, predominantly a convention hotel.

[01:25:06] Port Orleans, take the boat.

[01:25:08] It's actually quite lovely.

[01:25:09] Take the boat to Disney Springs.

[01:25:11] You have whatever you want.

[01:25:12] It really is a nice trip.

[01:25:14] It is a nice trip.

[01:25:15] It does drop you off at the worst point of Disney Springs.

[01:25:18] For sure.

[01:25:19] And Old Key West is a nice resort to walk around.

[01:25:22] But yeah, I mean, just as far as convenience goes, in the bubble, you're in the bubble, right?

[01:25:27] So you're kind of going to eat at the food court or you're going to eat, you know, the old adage, you know, we're not going to stay in the hotel.

[01:25:34] We're going to be at the theme parks, I guess.

[01:25:36] But when you're in that bubble and it's so easy to get places, you know, going back to the hotel.

[01:25:41] That is, I mean, look, I get it.

[01:25:44] And you're going for the theme parks and what have you.

[01:25:47] But like, that denies one of the core strengths of Disney World is that it is a vacation and it can be a vacation.

[01:25:58] And I think that that's what a lot of people don't recognize.

[01:26:00] Like, I certainly, it's very hard for me to get that in that headspace because I'm in Disneyland mode when I go there, you know.

[01:26:08] But I mean.

[01:26:10] It's nice to have the convenience of going back to the hotel, swim in the pool, the massive pool at the slide and have a cocktail by the pool and then go back for fireworks or whatever.

[01:26:20] That's the beauty of some of the deluxe resorts that we're going to talk about at some point in the near future where I can just walk 200 yards to get to my hotel.

[01:26:30] That's fair.

[01:26:30] Or take a monorail.

[01:26:31] It's much more convenient.

[01:26:33] Until you get to Animal Kingdom, but that's a different story.

[01:26:35] Well, yeah.

[01:26:36] That's convenient to nobody.

[01:26:40] Except the people who work there.

[01:26:42] Oh, there you go.

[01:26:43] Anyway.

[01:26:43] Hey, I'm here for work.

[01:26:44] Oh, I'm already here.

[01:26:46] So that's the Monorate Hotels at Walt Disney World.

[01:26:48] And we will be back next time for the moderate hotels at Disneyland, the second half.

[01:26:55] And yeah.

[01:26:56] Don't worry, folks.

[01:26:57] We'll talk about rides someday.

[01:26:59] There's a song about that.

[01:27:00] And don't worry.

[01:27:01] I will most likely at some point get tired of this dumb thing that I'm doing.

[01:27:06] But for now, I couldn't be happier about how things are going.

[01:27:12] Sorry.

[01:27:12] I forgot to I needed to chug some unpasteurized raw milk before we finish the show.

[01:27:20] Speaking of couldn't be happier.

[01:27:22] I watched Wicked last night.

[01:27:26] I was spoiler free.

[01:27:29] I was really, really pleasantly surprised by Ariana Grande.

[01:27:35] Oh, she's fantastic.

[01:27:37] I thought it was going to be Poppy and like stunt casting.

[01:27:43] She really did well.

[01:27:45] Like not as complex of an acting job as it could have been.

[01:27:50] But it's not ultimately a hyper complex character.

[01:27:54] But she nailed it.

[01:27:55] She did a really, really good job.

[01:27:57] So she's not Kristen Chenoweth, but she's good.

[01:27:59] She's 100% trying to be Kristen Chenoweth.

[01:28:01] Oh, okay.

[01:28:01] But she doesn't have the depth of character that Kristen Chenoweth had.

[01:28:04] Interesting.

[01:28:05] Okay.

[01:28:06] I would.

[01:28:06] It's all right.

[01:28:07] I'm going to leave it at this because, you know, I gave most of the time the hard stop.

[01:28:13] You've got two minutes.

[01:28:14] I've seen virtually every movie musical ever made from, you know, Sound of Music to Sweeney Todd to whatever.

[01:28:21] However, this is by far the-

[01:28:24] Have you seen Phantom of the Paradise?

[01:28:26] Sorry.

[01:28:27] For realsies musical.

[01:28:29] Seen Phantom of the Opera?

[01:28:30] That was awful.

[01:28:32] This is the best film adaptation of a stage musical I've ever seen.

[01:28:38] Oh, wow.

[01:28:39] Okay.

[01:28:39] That's saying a lot.

[01:28:40] That is all I'll say.

[01:28:41] Listen to Scraping the Vault where they may talk about this.

[01:28:46] Ah.

[01:28:47] If only.

[01:28:49] If only.

[01:28:50] Dan will hate it.

[01:28:51] Okay.

[01:28:53] So.

[01:28:54] That's a good point.

[01:28:56] I think both will not like this.

[01:28:58] Look, the real me loves musicals in this weird way that I can't really reconcile.

[01:29:04] I love musicals so much, but the people in them don't care for them.

[01:29:08] Okay.

[01:29:09] Oh, well, especially all their views.

[01:29:13] Well, thank you, Eric, for all that delightful goodness on Coronado and Caribbean Beach.

[01:29:18] Thank you, Dan.

[01:29:18] You're welcome.

[01:29:19] I don't know what I did.

[01:29:20] Thank you for you.

[01:29:20] You're welcome.

[01:29:21] Yeah.

[01:29:21] Thank you for being you.

[01:29:23] And thank you, America, for allowing me to be me.

[01:29:28] What I didn't do was name all of the 15 boats that are on the Sassagula River.

[01:29:34] So, listener, you're welcome.

[01:29:37] Memphis Miss, Louisiana Lady, Sassagula Sunset, Bayou Princess, Cristen City Queen, called Cristen

[01:29:43] City Queen on the boat's nameplate.

[01:29:45] Magnolia Blossom, Florida Queen, Buena Vista Queen, Saratogas Queen, Blossom Queen, Jazz

[01:29:50] Lady, Delta Lady, Azalea Bloom, Southern Breeze, Jazz Queen.

[01:29:53] Okay, I did it.

[01:29:54] Lots of queens.

[01:29:55] Yeah.

[01:29:56] Dan, you have something to say?

[01:29:58] Nothing.

[01:30:01] Real Dan?

[01:30:02] Just as long as they're using the right bathroom.

[01:30:03] I don't care.

[01:30:04] Okay.

[01:30:06] Oh, Jesus.

[01:30:09] All right.

[01:30:10] This was good.

[01:30:11] On that note, listener, thank you for listening.

[01:30:15] This has been the Moderate Resorts at Disney World.

[01:30:18] Back next time with the Moderate Resorts at Disneyland.

[01:30:22] Call Concierge.

[01:30:23] I've mentioned a couple of things.

[01:30:24] This is the kind of information you'll get from Concierge if you're interested in a Disney

[01:30:28] World trip.

[01:30:31] And there are other shows I'm not going to name.

[01:30:34] They're all great.

[01:30:35] They're all great.

[01:30:36] Except for the one, and it knows what it is.

[01:30:38] Yeah, it knows what it did.

[01:30:41] But Scraping the Vault has a new episode that is dropped by now, the Mickey's Christmas

[01:30:46] Carol.

[01:30:46] Listen to that.

[01:30:46] It's a lot of fun.

[01:30:48] That's the one that's bad.

[01:30:48] Until next time, folks, be good to each other.

[01:30:51] And until next time, court is adjourned.

[01:31:28] Didn't mean that about Scraping the Vault.

[01:31:30] It's my favorite.

[01:31:34] I'm going to let you in on a secret.

[01:31:36] I've loved every movie that we've watched on that show.

[01:31:40] All right.

[01:31:40] Now that Real Dan is here, what was the best movie that we covered?

[01:31:47] You know what?

[01:31:49] Mickey's Christmas Carol.

[01:31:50] Because I could relate to the...

[01:31:52] The Scrooge?

[01:31:53] I could relate to...

[01:31:54] So it made this weird turn towards the middle and the end that I was just like, I don't

[01:31:59] care for this.

[01:32:00] But right up until that point, I was just like, you know what?

[01:32:04] This guy's on to something.

[01:32:08] On to something.

[01:32:10] All right.

[01:32:11] Listener, be ready for our upcoming Bitcoin.

[01:32:18] Our new sponsor, ScrapeCoin.

[01:32:22] ScrapeCoin, VaultCoin.

[01:32:23] VaultCoin.

[01:32:24] Or SupremeCoin.

[01:32:25] Ooh.

[01:32:26] Supreme.

[01:32:27] Supreme.

[01:32:27] Supreme.